


Somethings Gotta Give

by lasairfhiona



Series: Somethings Gotta Give [3]
Category: West Wing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-19
Updated: 2012-09-19
Packaged: 2017-11-14 15:10:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/516681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasairfhiona/pseuds/lasairfhiona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They finally come to an understanding</p>
            </blockquote>





	Somethings Gotta Give

He resisted the temptation for as long as he could, then he gave in. Placing a call to the checkpoint at the West Entrance, he found she was still in the building. Of course, she hadn't gone home yet. She kept nearly the same hours he did.

With measured steps, he headed to her office. He almost wished she was still in the Steam Trunk Distribution Venue where they would have more privacy. He couldn't begrudge her the new office that went with her being a deputy instead of associate just because *he* was uncomfortable in her office.

Reaching her office, he found that while the blinds were closed, her door was ajar. "Ainsley," he called tapping on the door as he pushed it open.

"Leo!" she said surprised when she saw him walk in. He was the last person she expected to see tonight. Actually he was the last person she ever expected to see knocking on her door. He *always* called her to his office. "What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to talk to you," he said, closing the door behind him and taking a chair opposite her desk.

"About the meeting?" she asked taking a bit of the cupcake she'd been nibbling on when he came in. Chocolate *always* made her feel better.

"No," Leo answered. "About us."

"Us?" she questioned. She could hardly believe he would want to talk about them when he'd avoided indicating there was anything between them. Dare she hope the immovable object, as she'd come to call him in regards to what was or wasn't happening with them, actually going to budge a little?

"Yeah." He gave his standard one word answer.

She waited for him to continue, wondering what he'd actually say. Would he concede what had been unspoken between them? Would he deny it and pretend it didn't exist like he had been until now? Or would he flat out say it could never be between them? Any one of them were viable options, but only one was what she hoped for.

And still she waited. When it became obvious he wasn't going to say anything any time soon, she did what she always did and took the bull by the horns. Standing, she rounded her desk and before she could chicken out or have him stop her, she leaned down and touched her lips to his.

The minute he felt her mouth on his, he reached up, intending to push her away but sank his fingers in her hair instead. She tasted sweet and when she opened to him, he was lost.

She pulled back with a sigh and ran her fingers down his cheek. She never got to say what she was thinking, feeling.

"Ainsley, we can't… We shouldn't… It won't work…" Leo tried to tell her.

"Stop," she interrupted one of his attempts. "I don't want to hear it."

"Ainsley…"

"You think I don't know what you are going to say? Why you are going to say this won't work. Well I want to say -- you are wrong," she informed him. An hour ago she hadn't known what she was going to do. Now she had a glimmer of hope and something to fight for.

He ran his fingers through his hair and watched her as she leaned against her desk, with a determined look on her face. He could still feel her lips on his even though she was across the room. The kiss had been his undoing. He wanted her. He wanted to feel her pressed against his body. He wanted to see if she was as cheerful at 5am as she was at midnight. He wanted more than he had a right to ask for and more than he was willing to accept.

"Ainsley," he tried again.

"No Leo," she stopped him again. "I won't let you not give us a chance."

"Ainsley," he interrupted.

"Age. Job. Political views. Baggage. Alcoholism. Drug abuse." She ticked off the things she knew he'd use to avoid really getting involved with her. "They don't mean a thing."

"Yes, they do," he tried to argue.

Ainsley wasn't having any of it. "Not to us they don't. Not when *I* already know about them. Not when *we* work though anything that crops up in the future. Not when we feel the way we do about each other."

"How do *we* feel, Ainsley?" he asked, trying to put her on the spot. He wanted to know if she'd seen what he didn't want to admit existed.

"You tell me," she whispered as she closed the gap and once again leaned to kiss him, gently touching her lips to his before daring to run her tongue along his lips. "Tell me you don't feel something. Tell me you don't ask for me specifically, when any of the other lawyers in the Counsel's office will do. Tell me you don't share meals with me when you could just as easily take it back to your office," she whispered against his mouth before pulling back far enough to see his face as he answered.

"I can't," he conceded, drawing her down for another kiss. When she sighed against him mouth, he took advantage and deepened their kiss as he pulled her into his lap. No, he couldn't deny how she made him feel. Not when she felt so good in his arms. He just didn't know if it was enough.

"Give us a chance, Leo. Don't end whatever this could be before we know if we can make it work," she begged, when he pulled away almost knocking her off her already precarious position on his lap.

He couldn't deny her the chance, anymore than he could deny it for himself. He'd known it from the moment she kissed him. Not when her smile warmed his heart and her presence warmed his soul. "I won't," he finally said, holding her close and breathing in the scent of her hair.

Neither of them spoke or moved. They just sat together letting the walls Leo had build around himself after his divorce come tumbling down.

He'd known sooner or later something would have to give between them and he'd also known it would come down to him. What gave was the kiss. When he initiated it. When he allowed himself to have what he wanted. It reminded him of a line from an old Ella Fitzgerald song. "Somewhere, somehow, someone's gonna be kissed". He'd been kissed alright and that kiss caused every defense he'd put up against her to disappear.

Abruptly she stood and held out her hand to him. "Come on, let's get out of here," she suggested. She was playing it by ear. What she did know was that she wanted to be someplace where they could sit, or lie, in each other's arms and talk about their future together.


End file.
